The ventilation chamber of the University of Basilicata.

A new facility for the study of ventilation in buildings has been recently developed at the University of Basilicata (Potenza, Italy). This facility consists in a Controlled Ventilation Chamber (CVC), with an overall size of 2.4*2.4*3.0 m (the length may be extended to 4.2 m) . The CVC is divisible in two parts with a connecting door and is equipped with four grilles from which air can be immitted or extracted. A variable speed fan can adjust a flow rate of 0 to 10 ach. Instrumentation includes a flow rate transducer in the ducts, six low speed hot film anemometers in the room, a two-cell infrared gas analyzer for SF and N20 concentration, and a differential pressure manual meter. Air saSpling at different locations is controlled through a pneumatic scanner by a PC which also serves for data collection and elaboration. The CVC will be used both for ventilation frequency and ventilation efficiency measurements. Black-box identification will be adopted as a novel technique to determine the ventilation frequency (under perfect mixing hypothesis) with varying air change rates and tracer gas imrnission rates.